A "DEVASTATED" businessman has told how callous thieves stole irreplaceable children's vehicles - while he sat watching television just meters away.

Steve Gardner, who hand makes mini versions of Jeeps and Land Rovers for children, found eight of his vehicles - contained in a 31ft trailer - had been stolen from his home in Blackmore Park Road, Malvern, on Tuesday night.

Each vehicle was a prototype model, made by Mr Gardner when he first started his business 'Rebel Replicas' in 1990, and were worth around £4,000 each.

"This is devastating," said the 61-year-old, who served with the RAF during the Falklands conflict.

"It's my life's work gone in minutes. Some of the vehicles were prototypes which I made when I started the business. They are irreplaceable.

"I can't make another prototype. It means I have got no vehicles to show customers. It is going to have a major effect on my business."

The father-of-two captured the raid on CCTV, which shows the thieves climbing over his fence and casing the property before returning an hour later.

"They came back, hitched the trailer to a dark Land-Rover 90 Defender with a white roof and drove away," he explained.

"I did not hear a thing, I was watching TV and my wife, Michelle, had just gone to bed. I live in the middle of the woods, it was a very, very windy on Tuesday night."

The trailer was found the next day, abandoned in a field near Defford.

Mr Gardner and his wife Michelle alerted the police and port authorities - along with online selling sites Ebay and Gumtree - in the hope the vehicles will be found.

The stolen replicas are blue, maroon, green, pink and yellow with zebra stripes. The trailer is 31ft long with a large 'Rebel Replicas' logo on each side.

"They are unique vehicles and it will be impossible to sell them on the open market – second hand Rebel Replicas hardly ever come up for resale," said Mr Gardner, who has sold his vehicles all around the world.

Anyone with information about the theft can call police on 101, quoting incident number 0093 S 110117.